Metatalktail Hour: Looking forward to it! June 23, 2018 6:53 PM   Subscribe

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week, I want to hear what you're looking forward to in your life right now! As always, these are conversation starters, not conversation-limiters, so tell us whatever's on your mind (avoiding only politics).

Programming Note: Next week, we're going to experiment with posting MetaTalkTails at a more Europe-friendly time (we are open to suggestions about what time that would be! Memail me, e-mail me, or hit the contact form if you have feelings on that) so it won't go up at the usual Saturday evening Chicago-time time. I am terrible at time zones so I'm not sure when it will go up, I'm not sure if Europe is on Saturday or Sunday after I go to bed? So I can't really even tell you what day, but I'll queue it up in advance and taz will fire it off at an appropriate time.

We'll experiment with timing once a month or so to start with, see if there are times that are more popular with MeFites in Asia, Aus/NZ, Europe, etc., and we get more participants from those parts of the MeFi world, or if people just kinda participate whenever they happen to sign on and see the post is up, or what!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 6:53 PM (149 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

I'm two years in to post-Dad-death, which is also two years since seeing the (despised) ex for the last time, and I'm finally feeling like I'm maybe sort of starting to be a little bit ready to kind of mildly connect with new people again, sort of.

That's a lot of mitigation for one sentence, but that's how I feel. What I'm looking forward to is being interested in people again. Also, flirting. I'm looking forward to a random flirtation that I don't see coming.

The MeMail icon is up there ^^^^.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:01 PM on June 23, 2018 [22 favorites]


Mr. McGee ended up staying EIGHT DAYS halfway across the country to help his mom out after his stepdad died last week, which I'm glad he did! But 8 days is a long time to single-parent three kids, especially when they get up at 5 a.m.. He got home today, and I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow like I have never looked forward to anything else in my entire life!

Last night we had my nephew's birthday party and then came right home and I started my shift, so Mini McGee (who just turned 9) made dinner for us! He made ham sandwiches for everyone, and even cleaned up the kitchen after himself. *proud*

Otherwise I'm looking forward to taking my kids to the pool and to the endless summer of birthdays (all my kids and all my nieces and nephews have summer birthdays so we're basically partying every two weeks all summer). And since I got my new printer (thanks Ask!) I'm looking forward to printing out recipes I want to try so I can actually try them!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 7:02 PM on June 23, 2018 [21 favorites]


I’m looking forward to my birthday party early mext year. I’m not really the party tupe but though I might change that. I’m gonna have a retro 50-60s themed shindig where everyone brings a recipe from like Better Homes and gardens. I’m talking this sort of thing. It’ll be kid friendly and fun and then afterwards bowling! I might order a vintage outfit as a birthday present to myself for the occasion. The soundtrack will be a mixture of oldies and surf music. Weather permitting we’ll do the feed at the beach (even in summer Auckland weather is unreliable).

Also looking forward to cooking recipes out of The Great New Zealand Baking Book. Might finally make lamingtoms from scratch.
posted by supercrayon at 7:06 PM on June 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


It's my dad's birthday Monday. The family is going on a day cruise out on Lake Ontario. It's a short 3 hour cruise with a lunch served. Just something different and I'm looking forward to just being on the lake on a boat having a nice time.
posted by Fizz at 7:07 PM on June 23, 2018 [10 favorites]


We just tracked drums for these tracks tonight, so I’m super excited about getting them mixed and released. They sound awesome.

Also looking forward to lilozzy’s first trip on the train tomorrow to the zoo. And buying her a pretzel on the street!
posted by uncleozzy at 7:11 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


Last week was the worst week of the work month of doom. I am looking forward to things getting better next week, and then the week after that it's over. Yay! I am so glad that I don't have a job that's like this all the time, because peeing is actually not optional.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:18 PM on June 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


I'm also realizing that I'm following along with a more famous group of people that also went off for a 3 hour tour and now I'm a bit worried.
posted by Fizz at 7:20 PM on June 23, 2018 [13 favorites]


I'm looking forward to being settled. I had to move back to the US in 2014 because EU work visa rules suck ass, and since then, I've been looking for work (nearly) anywhere in the country. It's been hard to be sure about anything, or even do stuff like buy nice furniture, or feel like I can plan more than a month or two ahead. But two weeks from tomorrow the cat and I fly to Seattle, and I have a good, steady job in a career with a future, and I am not moving for several years, if I can help it. I'm excited to make a really steady home.
posted by kalimac at 7:20 PM on June 23, 2018 [19 favorites]


I'm also watching Captain Blood for the very first time and really enjoying this swashbuckling adventure.
posted by Fizz at 7:26 PM on June 23, 2018 [12 favorites]


I'm looking forward to settling in to my new job. I was terrified 3 months ago before I started. I spent most nights crying and feeling overwhelmed and unqualified. Then I started and... I really like it. I'm good at it. Other people think I'm good at it! I'm so glad I powered through the crippling imposter syndrome and didn't give up before I gave myself a chance to actually do this.
posted by gatorae at 7:30 PM on June 23, 2018 [13 favorites]


I might throw Flynn's Robin Hood on afterwards.
posted by Fizz at 7:32 PM on June 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


I am looking forward to finding out what my job is going to be after July. Maybe before the end of July? I may be looking forward to finding out when I will find out what my job is going to be.

And while that is sarcastically stated, I actually am very excited about one portion of my job-to-be, which will be to help integrate peer-run services with our professional mental-health services and I think this is SUCH A GOOD IDEA even if only a few people really understand why it's a good idea. I was also pleased that one of the higher-ups on the peer side said that he was happy I'd be involved as I "really get it," which I take as a really high compliment. I definitely want to see mental health services getting less clinical/jargon-y/distanced and more toward treating clients as actual peers, and I'm excited about moving the system in that direction. (I am just hoping this will be the main part of my job and that I will not also have to supervise four other programs.)

I also bought some rainier cherries based on MeFi's recommendation and I'm looking forward to trying those for the first time.
posted by lazuli at 7:35 PM on June 23, 2018 [10 favorites]


I'm looking forward to nothing really. I'm enjoying right now. My stitches are out- the pin is gone and with it the pain, so I'm heading back to the gym next week. I dyed my pit hair bright blue, and even if no one sees it but me, it makes me so happy. maybe I'll snap a pic and put it on imgur. I have this three week reprieve before the big surgery and I'm just throwing myself into my garden and my family and just trying not to think about it. But I can't stop thinking about it.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:37 PM on June 23, 2018 [14 favorites]


Flynn's Robin Hood is the Robin Hood in our house. My dad would always talk about how Rathbone was actually the better swordsman and make some kind of joke referencing Casablanca(King John).
posted by ghost phoneme at 7:44 PM on June 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


Rehearsals for my Queer Lady Magician show are going to start in a week or two (we've been doing live development stuff in the meantime) and it's exciting but also VERY NERVEWRACKING. The show's gotten a lot of enthusiasm and it's my most ambitious performance project ever so I don't want to let people down!
posted by divabat at 7:45 PM on June 23, 2018 [26 favorites]


Oooh, I had a great time this evening, helping my neighbor check his bee hives! Happy bees, thank goodness, more annoyed than angry, and doing well. I have this ridiculous belief that talking to them gently helps keep them calm, or maybe helps keep me calm and not giving off the scent of fear. This is the second time I've suited up to help and though I had a hairy moment or two, I was not afraid--so I'm looking forward to being with the bees again!
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:54 PM on June 23, 2018 [16 favorites]


Between work stuff and needing to hoard vacation for upcoming surgery, I haven’t taken a vacation in a year or more. I am taking 4th of July week off and going to visit some really good friends. I am feeling like I used to before Christmas as a kid.
posted by agatha_magatha at 7:56 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm looking forward to my new job in July. I start right after the holiday, so I get a short break and I ease into things. It's doing work that I think is important, working for people I respect who in turn respect my skillet, and (not as important) on a beautiful campus.

I am truly looking forward to this job. But I am just as much looking forward to not having my current soul sucking one. Five more days.
posted by ghost phoneme at 7:57 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm looking forward to (fingers crossed) getting traffic calming measures installed on my block soon after years of 311 requests!
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 7:57 PM on June 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


Two things!

A couple weeks ago, I went on a long-anticipated road trip with my dad, just the two of us. He used to take us kids on road trips back in the day, but I hadn't been in... well, a couple of decades. We had a really wonderful time. My dad's 70, and I know we don't have an eternity in front of us. But now that we finally got around to this road trip, I'm looking forward to doing this again every summer for as long as we can. We're already talking about the route we might take next year!

I have a wonderful wife and a delightful toddler and a sweet kitty, and our life is pretty darn good, chronic mental health issues and external (primarily political) stressors notwithstanding. But domesticity often breeds routine, and while routine can be comfortable, it's also, well... routine! Anyway, the kiddo was with her grandmother today, so my wife and I had a lovely day of spontaneity. We went to the oldest continuously-operating mini golf course in the US in the morning, and as we pondered lunch options, my better half suggested half-seriously that we drive an hour away to Frederick, Maryland and grab lunch at Family Meal (Bryan Voltaggio's place, for you Top Chef fans). So we did! Then we puttered around Frederick and took a look at some antiques we had no intention of buying. We eventually got in the car to head home, but as we were driving out of town, we noticed a bunch of happy, rainbow-clad, trans-flag waving youth (the kids are all right!) and realized that Frederick Pride was going on today. So we went! And it was awesome, y'all! I'd never been to a small-town pride festival before, and it was really special. And and and, there was a drag show and my favorite ever ever everrrrr, Chi Chi DeVayne, was performing! And she was so charming and kind and lovely, and it was a great day. ANYWAY, as we drove home, we talked about how nice it was to have such a spontaneous day, and we decided we're going to start doing that more often, and I am super looking forward to more spontaneous days with my best friend, my partner in all things, my wife.
posted by duffell at 8:01 PM on June 23, 2018 [26 favorites]


I've got a bottle of 11.5% Icelandic stout awaiting inspection. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to that.
posted by philip-random at 8:04 PM on June 23, 2018 [12 favorites]


Also it is very hot here (currently 86 degrees in the house) and while I'm mostly looking forward to the heat breaking tonight, I am also looking forward to continuing to merrily call out "SPATCHCOCKED!" every time I see one of the cats splayed out on the tile floor.
posted by lazuli at 8:08 PM on June 23, 2018 [25 favorites]


I have vacation time I have to use up in the next few months, so I'm looking forward to an as-yet unplanned trip to, uh, somewhere.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:10 PM on June 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


I am in that weird, anxious space where I am waiting to find out if got a job. I have been told that I should hear from them on Monday either way. So I guess I am looking forward to the end of the weekend but also dreading the possibility of getting turned down.

In cat news:
Usually the cat hangs out with me in the kitchen while I cook stuff. Sometimes he gets bored and goes upstairs to do his own thing. On Thursday night he hung around a bit while I made mac&cheese and then disappeared upstairs to sleep in my bed. At one point while I was washing dishes I heard a weird thump from outside but eh, it's an old building, maybe my neighbor dropped something?

Nope. I went upstairs to check on the cat. The cat was nowhere. That thump was the cat, who had escaped out my third floor bedroom window and jumped from the third floor porch down to the second floor balcony (my back kitchen door opens out onto this space). It took me about 10 seconds to see the window he had pushed open, gather my wits, grab a can of cat food bait and throw open the back door. Aaand he was just standing there on the porch like a goon. So! Everything is fine and nobody is lost.
Cats, man.
posted by janepanic at 8:16 PM on June 23, 2018 [24 favorites]


Oh my goodness, janepanic! Glad the cat was pleased enough with one feat that he didn't try to get any farther. Cats, man!
posted by lazuli at 8:18 PM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


I know it's a few months away, but I'm really looking forward to Hallowe'en. First, I always take a full week off to prepare. Second, I have a great theme this year. Third, I had to skip my annual Hallowe'en party last year because I had to be in D.C. for work, so this year the party is back on and it is really fun. I build a ton of props, make a great display and invite people (adults only as my friends tend to go toward less clothing than more) for a night of amusements and really good food!
posted by Sophie1 at 8:19 PM on June 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


"(FYI, you can Google "time in [European city]" and it will tell you the time, date, AND day of week in that city. It is currently 4:23 AM on Sunday, June 24 in London. )"

Oh, I know. I will simply forget as soon as my eyes depart from the information, so attempting to plan when timezones are involved is super doomed to failure where I'm concerned! My mother lives one time zone over and I am incapable of calling her at an appropriate hour. Changing my clocks before cell phones was a clusterfuck that involved me showing up for classes two hours wrong. I am flatly hopeless!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:25 PM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


I am looking forward to picking up my new eyeglasses tomorrow. They're a little bit cat-eyed and quite a bit tortoiseshell and they are glossy and shiny and oh so pretty. They will replace my current frames, which were well loved for five years, but which I've shattered half a dozen times and glued back together, so there's chunky bits of glue in odd places and the right lens has a crack starting. It was time.

But there was this moment in the shop mirror when I was getting fitted for the new ones. It's been a strange few years dealing with health stuff and I've let my hair grow out gray, and I rarely look in the mirror anymore, and when I opened my eyes I half expected to see Mrs. Havisham staring back at me.

But I looked nice! Distinguished, even? Like I've grown into myself at last. For the first time in years, I looked entirely my age and all the better for it.

So I am looking forward to wearing my new glasses.
posted by mochapickle at 8:26 PM on June 23, 2018 [18 favorites]


WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.
METAFILTER?

You just NOW tell me about Rainier cherries?

I'm looking forward to eating more Rainier cherries.
posted by lazuli at 8:38 PM on June 23, 2018 [15 favorites]


I just got my adult braces, at 40, finally, after a lifetime of very very fubared teeth. My parents couldn't afford it when I was a kid. I almost did it myself 15 years ago, but then i lost my job right before and never followed up until now.

It's been 3 weeks. I am already so very much looking forward to getting these buggers off. ~99 weeks left to go. My sympathies to every teenager ever (words I never thought i'd say), because as an adult I at least have my own disposable income to throw at the annoyances. If I want to buy a waterpick for every bathroom and eat (nice, soft) restaurant pasta every night, i'm a grown up and dammit i will if i want.
posted by cgg at 8:39 PM on June 23, 2018 [12 favorites]


After Wednesday, I am never going to have to worry about an ovarian cyst rupturing again because I won't have ovaries anymore! And I'll never have to get another pap smear because I won't have a cervix! Never again will I shed my uterine lining because there won't be a uterus! After 27 years of intolerable pain, I will be freeeeeee!

And then a week after that, my mom is bringing Kid Ruki to take her road test. If all goes well with that, Kid Ruki is looking forward to two weeks of unlimited use of my car. I'm looking forward to being able to send her out on ice cream runs.
posted by Ruki at 8:41 PM on June 23, 2018 [24 favorites]


Right now I'm looking forward to a much cleaner living space, and keeping our fingers crossed we'll keep it. Which we should. Our property manager got annoyed with us because we haven't mown the yards and requested a walk through, so we're doing some much needed deep cleaning and yard work so we can go "See, look, we're normal functioning adults, just really busy."

I've been wanting to clean the heck out of my place anyway and feel like I have been living on top of the remainder of old depressed me. So I finally did that thing and went through all of my things and dumped a good third of crap I don't need, old clothes and sewing projects I'll never do and clothes I'm absolutely positive I'll never wear now that I'm figuring some things out.

How much crap can a queerdo hobo supposedly still on a bike tour acquire, anyway? Too much, apparently. I own furniture now, a nice old cedar chest, and a table and a basic set of shelves. And rather too many bookshelf speakers, laptops and MIDI devices, which is now up to about three to five, variously, in each. Somehow I ended up naturally building a cheapo music studio again, and so maybe I'm going to actually put it together now and set it up after I sweep and mop the floor and finish putting things into actual containers and storage-like objects.

I also found some important paperwork and referral stuff that reminded me to stay on top of my treatment, 'cause I'm starting to get a little rudderless about it and it's definitely time to address and even form the next items on my checklists and goals, like an official referral letter. And maybe going to UW to see an endo that knows a lot more. And trying to get my ID refreshed.

Workwise I'm getting a little overwhelmed and have been a little too non-stop and need to find some balance because it's making me cranky and unfluffy, but I know part of that was not having a functional space at home despite all the time spent carving one out at work.

Right now I'm REALLY enjoying the 99 cents I spent on a new power supply for my little cheap but good 8 watt amp. That solid 3 amps 12 VDC from a switching supply really makes a huge difference compared to the little 1 amp old school coil tap DC rectified wall wart.

For the not nerdy - more power means cleaner, louder sound with less distortion because these T-class amps are designed to "droop" and cope with lower volts and amps, but don't really achieve full power without a good supply.

For the nerdy that are into these little cheap t-class amps - this 9 dollar Kinter amp sounds WAAAAAAAAY better than a Lepai 2020A+ with the same speakers. Even when I had a good PSU for a Lepai. The classic Lepai had an utterly horrible distortion problem at anything over about 50%, and it was a really weird digital harmonic/chromatic distortion. I'm getting none of this on this Kinter that's half the advertised RMS, and way more clean thump and drive on a pair of three way 60 Watt capacity KLH 45s. This amp and PSU makes my Optimus 7" cubes sound like butter.

Right now I'm putting out enough bass with a pair of little bookshelf speakers that you can hear it out on the street, but it's clean and pleasant and not too loud inside.
posted by loquacious at 8:45 PM on June 23, 2018 [14 favorites]


I am looking forward to not studying. As mentioned in the MetaGoodness thread, I sat the CFA exam today, so am very much looking forward to emptying my brain of formulas.
posted by Kris10_b at 8:51 PM on June 23, 2018 [11 favorites]


I've been a little poorly this weekend and spent virtually all of yesterday in bed or doing SFA. I had one of those moments, that appear to come increasingly with age: I was feeling antsy and frustrated, feeling unwell but my mind racing with a catalogue of things I had planned doing this weekend simple stuff, mowing, cooking, washing etc. And then it hit, "oh my god, I have become my father."

I have so many memories as a child, of Dad rushing around on the weekend, pausing only to eat lunch, rifling through a list of tasks with a manic focus. I used to be bewildered at his inability to just sit and relax. Oh how he would laugh now if he were around.

I'm looking forward to a bunch of stuff I always talk about here. However, we're thinking of sneaking up to the blue mountains maybe next weekend, so I guess I'm extra looking forward to that. :)
posted by smoke at 8:59 PM on June 23, 2018 [9 favorites]


I've got some linen and cotton fabrics coming (two greys--one lavender and one true--and a blue) and I'm looking forward to making a Curlew and a Bantam from the Merchant & Mills Workbook. I did a test of both of patterns today and I believe I've got the fit right, but I was not up for working on the real garments today. Good because the fabrics won't be here until mid-week at the earliest.

I've made Merchant & Mills patterns before. The basic ones are brilliantly simple but they are all designed with painstaking finishes and if you want like the finished garments, you really need to take your time and be careful with your fabric selections. I have some lawn and cupro in the stash, but even if they were right, I don't have the focus right now.

I've recently finished my second Trapeze dress, which I keep making because it's a great pattern, but I keep making dumb choices in fabric. The first I made in a beautiful Italian twill that was much too stiff for the pattern. I've worn it twice, but--frankly--it's just not right. I made the second in a rayon with the right drape, but I just don't see myself wearing the print. It's pretty, but I don't even have stripes in my closet.

Additionally, the patterns really require you to slow down and go through the steps deliberately. I just don't have the mental space for that now, but the test garments were wonderful and I'm looking forward to finishing them. The linen and the batiste should be perfect.

I've also got a nice muted mauve lightweight knit for the 1963 Vogue pattern #5995. I've made a test garment of this pattern as well and though it fits nicely, it really suffers from my lack of period underpinings. So I've picked a lightweight knit that more of a woven than a jersey. It should hold the shape of the dress well and compensate a bit for my no-girdle-yoga-bra middle-aged self.
posted by crush at 9:03 PM on June 23, 2018 [15 favorites]


My first (and honestly, probably only) book is coming out in September! That seems like forever right now, so meanwhile I'm looking forward to taking my dog for his much belated summer haircut next week. (Here's before & after pics from his previous haircut.)
posted by moonmilk at 9:04 PM on June 23, 2018 [16 favorites]


I have a plumeria of the dwarf pink Singapore variety, and it will be giving me a couple new flowers soonish. Very much looking forward to that.

Also tomorrow we will be visiting my daughter's grandmother, who has been pretty isolated and not doing well. Hopefully our visit will brighten her day at least.
posted by cats are weird at 9:21 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


After 28 days in the ICU (and two in the regular hospital), my dad was moved to a rehab facility in my folks neighborhood. He's doing well and prognosis is good. I'm looking forward to NOT spending any more time in the ICU, ever. Or at least for a long time.

And I am looking forward to doing all the stuff that I haven't been able to do in a month, like have fun and sleep in, and go to work. Yes, even go to work!! Regular life I am so ready for you!
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:22 PM on June 23, 2018 [15 favorites]


I watched a double feature of "The Graduate" and "The Goodbye Girl" tonite. Two old favorites. My son turned 20 this week and he is currently away at sailing instructor training on Long Island and I miss him. I spilled red wine on my carpet tonite and managed to clean it up without staining, for which I (and my security deposit) are thankful.
On review, I realize these are not forward thinking things, but hey.
posted by sundrop at 9:22 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


Last year was a crazy year and I used up all of my vacation days plus two extra weeks. One of those weeks was comped due to my fathers death and all the details to take care of related to that. But the second week was basically because life was hard for reasons and I had to take many mental health days. So I just paid back those days and will finally start accruing vacation time again as of this month. So no big vacation plans for this year, don't have enough days yet.

But I do have at least one thing to look forward too, we have started loosely planning a road trip to New Mexico next spring around my birthday. I am looking forward to visiting a light desert to see all the stars!

Today I baked chocolate pistachio biscotti and made a batch of chocolate chip pecan cookie dough for the freezer so today was a good day!!
posted by blacktshirtandjeans at 9:44 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


My birthday is next month, so my old roommate reached out to me to ask if I'd like to go anywhere. We've tentatively decided on blueberry picking, which I've never done before, and the farm has a small zoo nearby; needless to say that's worth looking forward to!

A couple months ago I won a ticket for the Malice Mizer 25th anniversary concert this September, and now that it's coming up soon I am starting my search for an appropriate outfit. I didn't get my first choice of Fancy Seat, but I got a seat and that's all that matters (I am now strongly in favor of random ticket distribution for popular concerts, as opposed to crashing a ticket website hoping to beat out everyone else)

payday is also tomorrow
posted by lesser weasel at 9:50 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


I want to give a shout out to Mefite RobotVoodooPower, who in the course of answering the Songs With Sax Solos AskMe answered a question I've had vaguely in mind for a few months, which is "What is that song that is by the Police that sort of sounds like "Lights" by Journey but is not actually on any Police studio albums, which song's introduction has been stuck in my head for months?"

It is Low Life, which was the B-side to "Spirits In The Material World."

I am looking forward to not having to idly wonder about that in the hours when I have trouble sleeping.
posted by Daily Alice at 9:59 PM on June 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


Planning for the big anniversary party this weekend continues.

There will be tacos, music, ice cream, kids, possibly a magician, horseshoes, beer., friends.

Guest list is just over 110 at last count, so if you're in the hood, come on by!
posted by madajb at 10:16 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


Getting the F off of the Fury Road setting and going home.

On the other hand; it would all be a great place for a Burning Man/Coachella type festival; but I just don't think that would vibe the locals too well. Unless The Clash did the opening. Might be the greatest boon to the culture for quite some time.
posted by Afghan Stan at 10:36 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


The next six weeks will be super busy for me, which is good because I will get a lot of overtime and also I have been in a bit of a funk lately so am hoping that busting my ass for a few weeks will break me out of it. Also, the majority of the extra work is outside of my normal department, and who knows where that might lead.

Even better than that, my youngest brother and his daughter are coming to visit at the end of August. I left the US fifteen years ago and like no one has ever visited me in that time. I have been lobbying for people to come the entire time and no one ever did.

I'm a little nervous because his daughter is slightly...uh...picky, and obviously things are different in Korea than they are in the US, but I am pretty confident that everyone will have a good time!
posted by Literaryhero at 10:38 PM on June 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


I haven't had a haircut in over a year and I have to sort out my bank card first but I am looking forward to eventually getting my hair cut!

I am supposed to turn in a thesis draft at the end of the summer and...uh... anyway, I'm looking forward to that whenever it happens.

I still have to completely rework my syllabus but I'm looking forward to the new school year; this year will be a little lighter on the classwork and I will be seeing all my grad school friends who I'm missing now.
posted by Jeanne at 10:50 PM on June 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


bottle of 11.5% Icelandic stout awaiting inspection

it passed

posted by philip-random at 10:55 PM on June 23, 2018 [17 favorites]


I have so many memories as a child, of Dad rushing around on the weekend, pausing only to eat lunch, rifling through a list of tasks with a manic focus. I used to be bewildered at his inability to just sit and relax. Oh how he would laugh now if he were around.

My vacations as a kid were like forced marches. My dad would over schedule everything and it would be brutal. I realized a couple years ago that I was doing the same thing to my family (hah!) and have really been trying to ease up. I don't know what happened to me, I didn't used to be like this, I swear!
posted by Literaryhero at 11:20 PM on June 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


Two BIG things:

Thing 1: moving! This will be a 'nice,' just-finished place, in a better location, and I'm very excited! It's on a second floor, which has always been my dream (I grew up in a one-story home and have spent too much time in them since, while always staunchly preferring the higher alternatives). It's in walking (and two-minute driving) distance from a park with: trails, the river, a big dog park, and the best contemporary playground ever (MISTING STATIONS ON BOTH A VOLCANO AND A FIRETRUCK, nuff said). And it's right by what I call The store: Waremart by Winco (finally found a cheap grocery store!). I want to buy all the things so that my furniture and 'stuff' can live up to a brand new place with nice floors, cabinets, appliances, etc. Is this what "aspirational" is? Because I despise that word but if that's what this is maybe it's not so bad.

Thing 2: a much-awaited vacation.
posted by Carouselle at 11:22 PM on June 23, 2018 [11 favorites]


Very short term: eating the maple sugar candy I brought back from my visit home. New York rather than Vermont cru (courtesy of the Greenmarket) but I get it just once a year and I love it.
Short term: orchestra retreat in two weeks. Rehearse all day Saturday and Sunday, with an interlude of hot baths (more fun in the winter, but oh well) and a party (some people stay up talking and drinking all night, I do my best for about an hour and fall asleep). I am so happy to get to work on Dvorak 8 with people I'm fond of.
Long term: quitting/cutting down on my job sometime in the next year (to switch to freelance), now that I have my spousal visa. I have no formal plans for this, and right now, at the risk of immodesty, things would go to hell if I just up and quit, but it needs to be done. I really love my coworkers, but Monday to Friday is beginning to feel so so long.
posted by huimangm at 11:32 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


You just NOW tell me about Rainier cherries?

I'm looking forward to eating more Rainier cherries.


Dude, be cool. There is apparently a limited supply and the last thing we need is to only find them at Whole Paycheck or as a topping for hipster thin crust pizza. Officially, they are “a cherry lacking sweetness which lack any baking or commercial use.”

I’m looking forward to my newest tattoo this week. This will be number five, my first arriving two years ago at age 46. I finally found a guy, an artist really, who I really trust. I spent some time talking to him about what’s going on in my life and he came up with something awesome .will post if it turns out right.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:36 PM on June 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


I’m looking forward to spending some time in London at the end of August. I stopped travelling there for work last summer and since then have only passed through on the way to other places. Mefi meetup anyone?

Switching up the time zones is a wonderful idea, thank you Eyebrows.

I could use some good vibes this weekend, I was meant to go to Dublin for a friends birthday, but had to cancel at the last minute due to pain/fatigue. I’m trying to have a quiet weekend, but it’s hard to feel like staying home without regular illness symptoms like the flu or a virus. I did sneak out yesterday to take some photos of new Banksy works in Paris, but today I need to not move too much!
posted by ellieBOA at 11:36 PM on June 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


(Update: spent the last couple hours of my shift printing off recipes and closing tabs I'd had open for a MONTH since the printer broke. Excited!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 11:42 PM on June 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


Eyebrows McGee: we're going to experiment with posting MetaTalkTails at a more Europe-friendly time

I'm looking forward to that!
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:00 AM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


This summer is turning out rather different than planned. An unexpected sequence of events means I'm dealing with a property sale; on the downside, that means legal meetings and paperwork (so much paperwork, even though my solicitor, who is good, is handling as much as can). It also means a few trips across the Midlands back to my home county, which is ... complicated. On the upside it means that, on the other side of this, I should have more resource and freedom to do things such as travel and emigrate (hei, Norge eller Sverige); so, I guess that's the point am looking forward too.

Yesterday I went to a church talk about parish church stained glass windows. They were often a mechanism for exerting soft power, and subtle advertising and showing-off, in previous times as rich people who often funded the windows could dictate the contents, knowing they would be forever seen by poorer people in the parish when church was attended. As such they were a good illustration of historical aspects of the English class system, and the particular church I was in today has some very finely detailed examples.

Also, church talks often involve cake, but that's a total coincidence. However, I was surprised to not see my local MP there as I keep bumping into her at local events that involve desserts, cakes or chocolate - and was jealous of the Royal Wedding cupcakes she obtained from the local methodist church - but later I discovered that, instead, she was at a suffragette commemoration event in the public library, eating a nice cake made by Mavis (one of the good chocolate sponge cake bakers around these parts).

Which may have been the better choice as unfortunately the presenter here today had brought his laptop and a large screen, and had recently discovered Powerpoint. It's never good when a speaker has recently discovered Powerpoint; we were inevitably subjected to a well-meaning, but very long presentation about the stained glass windows which were just a few feet away. There was a lot of detail, and a lot of text on a lot of slides, but by the time he had finished I had (a) forgotten 95%+ of what he had said and (b) having sat at the back next to the food table (another total coincidence), eaten a cupcake, a slice of lemon drizzle cake, and a strawberry scone.

And so, deep into the afternoon, the presenter finally ran out of slides and special effects. People got up, or woke up, and started shuffling around to look at the windows. Two senior ladies looked at the main three part stained glass window, which features scenes of the twelve apostles. I was standing next to them, having some kind of sugar rush and wondering if I should go for a very long run outside when their conversation took a turn for the bizarre:

Senior Lady One: It is an interesting shape, that window. It reminds me of ... something.
Senior Lady Two: Ooooo, same here. The young man I saw showering when our bus passed his house last wednesday!
Both: {several minutes of giggling}

(I am so going to hell for typing up that church anecdote)

Eventually people drifted away, I had a cup of tea to try and wash some of the sugar out of my system, and the presenter ran out of people to show some new special effect he had found in "The Power Point". A long but quickly paced walk back to base ensued, where I'm now typing this, fuelled by the slice of velvet cake the church volunteers insisted I take with me.

As you can (literally hopefully) see, my Flickr account is sorted after somehow setting the permissions on an entire collection of albums to private and wondering why the statistics plummeted. But it's hopefully all public again, so people can view other recent adventures with cake. These have included cake in Worcester cathedral, some cakes at a village fete (here's the schedule), a wide selection of cakes and tarts and fancy tarts and a wall of cake at a farmers market (there was also cheese), the occasional fancy dessert, and some intense cakes at another village fete.

What else recently? Oh, there was the UKs largest artisan cheese festival, a day of spectacular cheesification which also had the odd cake or two. Ah, and during the bluebell season, there was a slightly strange service in the woods which also ended with cake. One way it was strange was an unexpected MeFite connection, but more on that in a comment on a different MetaTalk post this September coming...
posted by Wordshore at 12:01 AM on June 24, 2018 [35 favorites]


hei, Norge eller Sverige

Well, we spell it hej over here, so there's that. But Norway is a fully acceptable place, or so I've heard ;)

It's this time of the year when stores practically give away new potatoes for free – like, 1 kr per kg… that's about 9 European cents or a similarly minuscule amount of American ones – so I'm looking forward to living entirely on new potatoes and butter for the foreseeable future. A very tasty and starchy future.
posted by Vesihiisi at 1:30 AM on June 24, 2018 [12 favorites]


I just (OK, about an hour and a half ago at this point) awoke with Sister Hazel's "Elvis" in my head (part of the soundtrack to my most recent tarot reading), experiencing mild pain and itching from my ankle boot, and took some pain medication. I made it 14 hours between doses, so that's not bad.

I'm at the end of week 4 of this broken ankle saga, with 5 more non-weight-bearing weeks to go, and I'm so looking forward to literally getting back on my feet. I'm also looking forward to not sleeping on the couch or on my back anymore. I'm anticipating seeing friends in person and starting physical therapy on Tuesday, as the atrophy in my right calf is already real and a bit freaky. I've canceled attendance at 3 out of 5 planned conferences this summer; I'll be lucky if I get to the last 2 of them.

Sigh. I'm looking forward to not waking up in the middle of the night when my pain meds' effects wane. Graaaaar.
posted by limeonaire at 1:35 AM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


Yesterday there was a spider on the ceiling, it was the biggest spider I've seen just out and about and not behind glass. It's hard to tell from this picture, but it was roughly the size of a Hyundai Elantra. I thought this stuff only happened to Australians.
posted by fleacircus at 2:10 AM on June 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


I just recently got married, and now in the foreseeable future I get to look forward to changing my surname (kind of fun even though it's a lot of work), moving into a new place that is suitable for child-rearing, and attempting to have a kid!
posted by value of information at 2:38 AM on June 24, 2018 [7 favorites]


I shaved the beard off yesterday. Whilst I've been enjoying the look of beardy me for the last six months (grew it over the Christmas break and it just stayed), it's 37C in Madrid today and going to stay that way over the long summer. So I'm looking forward to not feeling so hot and Mrs. A. says it's like having a new model husband.
posted by arcticseal at 2:56 AM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


After years of presenting carefully structured arguments, shameless pleading and downright begging, I finally convinced Mr. theBRKP to go completely elsewhere during Major Holiday this year. Transportation and accommodations are already booked and we are surprising Kid theBRKP with the trip. So I'm looking forward to being completely unavailable for extended family obligations during Major Holiday this year and celebrating with my little family.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:17 AM on June 24, 2018 [9 favorites]


T'husband and I went to our first house viewing yesterday. Great location but as soon as we stepped into the house we knew it was Not For Us. As first time buyers, the last thing we need is a house where the bathroom has to be gutted immediately and every room needs major work, some of it structural. I did get to fuss their elderly kitty though, who was very sweet.

But we have broken the house viewings seal and hopefully soon we will see The House, which can be lived in and worked on at a much slower pace.

Now I am stress cleaning for a letting agent inspection so that’s..less great but hopefully it won’t be long before we never have to put up with this bullshit again.
posted by halcyonday at 3:43 AM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm looking forward to my two college graduated kids finding career focused employment and getting out of the house.

I'm mostly kidding, although I am surprised that my 4.0 GPA daughter with 3 career related internships, leadership activities too numerous to count, and a semester of StudyAbroad in a STEM major hasn't had a single interview yet. I'd think anybody hiring new Animal Science graduates would at least have her on the interview list. I suspect the unemployment situation in this country is not quite as rosy as the official statistics suggest.
posted by COD at 5:27 AM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm looking forward to, in no particular order: getting back to work after yet another protracted infection, eating the strawberry peach tart with lemon shortbread that's sitting in my fridge, stargazing with my new sweetie (who owns a really nice telescope, which is one if the many perks of dating them!), finishing knitting the sleeves of my sweater, screwing around on metafilter, and four months without traveling for work.

Posting these at an earlier hour in Chicago would hit the European crowd well. As an example, Paris is seven hours ahead of Chicago, so posting at noon Chicago time would make the post go live at 19:00 (7pm) in Paris and much of Europe. It helps me to visualize a map of the world in my head when I think about time zones.
posted by sockermom at 5:46 AM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


Oh my goodness, janepanic! Glad the cat was pleased enough with one feat that he didn't try to get any farther. Cats, man!

I should add that he did not want to come back in the house and totally did that mad squirmy cat wiggle when I picked him up. He was having a daring catventure and how could I not understand.
He went on to spend some time sulking underneath a cardboard box.
posted by janepanic at 6:11 AM on June 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


I am looking forward to Eyebrows McGee buying some really light-tight shades for the mini Mcgee's bedrooms, upon which the latter will magically emerge not earlier than seven a.m. which is the perfect time for posting Metatalk Hour so it pops up on our (Europeans') screens in the Early Afternoon Of The Same Day. To which I'm looking forward too.
posted by Namlit at 6:27 AM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


ellieBOA and limeonaire and others dealing with pain: Sending you soothing and/or healing vibes, as appropriate.

Dude, be cool. There is apparently a limited supply and the last thing we need is to only find them at Whole Paycheck or as a topping for hipster thin crust pizza. Officially, they are “a cherry lacking sweetness which lack any baking or commercial use.”

Oh, right! Yes. Yes entirely. Ahem: Those cherries were indeed totally lacking sweetness and I cannot imagine anyone ever wanting to do anything with them.

Like that?
posted by lazuli at 6:29 AM on June 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


I’m looking forward to my son coming home from college for a few weeks, and hoping he’ll bring some of his new puppets with him!

Also finishing listening to the last audio tracks for my second book; the narrator’s great. It’s been an adventure and a little scary but I’m looking forward to being done, so I can put all my energy into the next project.

And I’m NOT AT ALL looking forward to seeing those horrible Rainer cherries in the store today. So watery, with that unappealing texture and color. They’re taking up valuable grocery space that could be given over to more iceberg lettuce.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 7:06 AM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


Yesterday, I booked myself a solo vacation for the weekend after July 4th, and I am so excited. I got a cabin that is entirely too big for 1, but is the same price as a hotel room. It's in the woods, on a lake, with a huge shaded porch overlooking the water. It has a dock and a canoe and kayak, plus a firepit and hammock, and everything else that says "lake cabin". It's also only like 2.5 hours driving away. Perfect. I'm going to download lots of books, yoga videos, meditations, and bring some art materials , fancy bath/skin care things, wonderful food and coffee and some good wine, and basically create a retreat weekend just for myself. I've never done anything like this, but I think it will be good, to process and cleanse my mind and spirit. Gaahhhh, I am so excited!
posted by Fig at 7:06 AM on June 24, 2018 [26 favorites]


Unitarian family summer camp, SUUSI in 3 weeks in N.Carolina! Any fellow UUs out there, message me if you're also going.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:12 AM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm not looking forward to them, but I have two interviews this week. I don't feel very optimistic about them because they want the names and contact information for my last three supervisors, who have retired, died, and been fired, respectively. I'm unsure how I'm ever going to get a job without supervisory references. Also I really really really really really really need a job so every failed interview is really disheartening. But I AM proud of myself for going to each one, because 1. they're good practice and 2. I didn't chicken out at the last minute.

And I guess I'm looking forward to seeing my therapist on Saturday, simply because his sweet little brain is going to explode when he hears about the interviews and his joy is infectious. Especially since it's about me. Ha.
posted by elsietheeel at 7:20 AM on June 24, 2018 [11 favorites]


As a codicil, am just back from a summer fete at a local cricket club. It was sweltering; enough that the hot food concessions were not doing much business (though the food options available may also be something to do with that).

There were the usual games and tombola and the like, and also a excessively loud music system playing Michael Jackson songs for some reason. Thankfully, on the other (and much quieter) side of the pitch, the local archery club were giving you the opportunity to shoot a few arrows. That was the first time in several years for me, and I did ... okay. Nobody died, the ambulance on standby in the car park was not needed, and so forth. The downside was that it took place in open ground, so everyone was a complete sweaty mess. Which is also why I cut myself out of the photo of me standing next to my target.

After which I had to go inside the clubhouse for a cold drink and some shelter. Unfortunately that's where most of the activity was, as there was a TV setup so people could watch England play another team in the Association Football World Cup. From the regular cheering, England were 'putting the ball' into the opposition 'goal' more time than their opponents were putting in theirs. Or, something. Thankfully, I spotted a cake stand which was far more interesting, and after choosing between the chocolate cake (and inside), a cake with some orange bits on it, and various other items of baking which were all attractively priced, I went for a nice blueberry and oat muffin.

Anyway; speaking of food, it's time to find myself some shade and work on the 'Non-edible uses of Rainier Cherries' FPP, as several seasons of this fruit will come and go before sciatrix ever delivers on this one.
posted by Wordshore at 7:34 AM on June 24, 2018 [7 favorites]


I’m looking forward to knitting a kitty hat. Teal fur. Button eyes. My favorite five year old has been requesting a hat for a few months. I haven’t knitted anything in 9 days. I have been pintsresting my new work pajamas wardrobe - sleeveleas shells I will knit and wear with elastic waistband pants.

Also I’m going to do a very basic hygiene task tonight and I cannot wait. I’ll spare you.

Most soon, it looks like I’ll get another visit from a very kind mefite. With foods. I’ve made a list of some cravings but I can’t gauge how reasonable anything is. Sadly I’m not craving much that’s shelf stable. It’s all cheese and sliced fresh veggies and

Guys. I love food.
posted by bilabial at 7:40 AM on June 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


I'm looking forward to going to Pride this afternoon. I hope my friend, a sensitive-souled White, Boomer, leather- and diaper-wearin' gay man, finds someone to get laid with, or at least flirty.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 7:51 AM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


I am looking forward to finishing the 150 mile charity bike ride I signed up for next week. I have not done nearly enough training and the forecast is hinting that it could hit triple digits here, so I'm concerned about my general survival. However, my impression is that it's a little bit more relaxed than the one I did a couple years ago so I think I can take my time and hopefully not die.

At any rate, the bike has been washed and lubed and I got my team kit would looks quite nice (thanks, PR folks at work!) so I look forward to being exceedingly genteel on two wheels.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:01 AM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


Eyebrows - next week, post the metatalktail thread at 1PM locally to have it up in the early evening for our European Companions.

My supervisor left for the summer yesterday, so I am looking forward to time by myself in the lab to just get my stuff done and not worry about her! I am currently waiting to hear back about a few new jobs I've applied for. Looking forward to hearing back from them (one of them is in DC!).

I had a nice wander yesterday around the MFA and around a Victorian cemetery. I'm trying to figure out some big picture stuff and a little sad and a little confused about how some things are going in the interim, but it's summer and it's pretty and my little problems are so little and personal in a giant sea of things that need fixing, I have to imagine they'll work out at some point.
posted by ChuraChura at 8:02 AM on June 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


I just rowed a pb 2k on the machine. At this point my body is much more habituated to the idea that I now do regular exercise than my mind is, so my muscles are like nbd while my brain is like when did this happen? this is kind of a trip.

My dude asked me what I wanted to do next while I was recovering, and like a true athlete I said, "get high and eat strawberries from the garden."
posted by terretu at 8:09 AM on June 24, 2018 [9 favorites]


I'm in trip-planning anxiousness. Mid-August I'm going to WorldCon (World Science Fiction Convention) i San Jose CA. I expect this to be my last "big trip" of my life. I haven't flown in over 20 years (I've traveled, just not by plane), so I'm indulging myself with first-class tickets. Major indulgence. I'm looking forward to being a gracious snob. A writer friend is the co-Guest of Honor at the Con, so I'll be in a major swirl of socialness, which means seeking out pockets of peace to recharge my inner introvert.

As soon as the Con is over, I'm taking the Greyhound to San Diego to meet a Facebook friend for real. Arriving Mon. eve, staying to Thu am, so only two full days so as not to strain a "new" friendship. Then back to San Jose, into a new hotel, and enjoy birthday events with a local friend and her husband (Including the writer friend and some SF friends). Plane back to Asheville on Monday. Then home, pulling door closed behind me.
posted by MovableBookLady at 8:09 AM on June 24, 2018 [12 favorites]


You're going to love first class, MovableBookLady! I got bumped up to first class once on a trans-Atlantic flight, and it was really kind of amazing. (Have I told that story? The moral of it is that when all hell breaks loose in an air-travel-related situation, be nice to the people working at the rebooking counter, because they are also having a crappy day, and they almost certainly have no control over the situation. Also, they decide who gets the first-class seats on the otherwise-full earliest available flight.) Flying is a totally different experience when you have tons of room and a reclining seat that turns into a bed and privacy and good food and free decent booze.
I’m looking forward to knitting a kitty hat. Teal fur. Button eyes. My favorite five year old has been requesting a hat for a few months. I haven’t knitted anything in 9 days.
Because all my brain energy is going towards the work month of doom, I am exclusively knitting mitered square dishcloths. I'm on my third one. They take no thinking, and they are cool. I'm thinking about making a Hue Shift afghan, which is made of interlocking mitered squares, but I'm worried that I'll get bored of knitting mitered squares after the work month of doom is over and I get my brain back. But it's so pretty and rainbow-licious, and KnitPicks has a kit where they sell you all the yarn and the pattern for less than $30. I'm seriously tempted.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:32 AM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


That is, indeed, a very pretty afghan, A&C.

My friends and I have been getting together once a month to sit in a beer garden and do fancywork or handwork. I plan to add some sashiko plum blossoms to a skirt I have. But I've only done pre-printed work before and I'm not completely sure about transferring the design. I've got my tailor's chalk but I don't really have the free hand skills. I thought about tracing it on tissue and stitching through the tissue but I don't know.
posted by crush at 8:45 AM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


(I should add--I've never had much luck with transfer paper when sewing for tailor's marks, so I'm not excited about using it for sashiko. Maybe it's gotten better over the years?)
posted by crush at 9:00 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


I thought of another thing! We're all doing summer reading at the local public library (my kids and I are having a race, I made the error of starting with War & Peace, I'm getting my butt kicked). For adults when you sign up they send you a link to a form where you can fill out some books you've liked recently, genres you're in the mood for, etc., and then a real-live librarian looks at your list and e-mails you some recommendations a couple days later. I got my rec list and about half the books are ones I've already read -- but all ones I liked a lot! So I'm very excited to read the other half, many of which I've never even heard of.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 9:06 AM on June 24, 2018 [7 favorites]


I am really looking forward to my porch bucket tomatoes being ripe. I've also got two bell peppers, a jalapeno and a cayenne that are all looking productive. I'm also curious to see if the eggplant does anything - it's supposed to be mini eggplants, but it's only recently started growing again after its month-long stall at three leaves.

My vacations as a kid were like forced marches. My dad would over schedule everything and it would be brutal.

In the inverse, I wanted to do a million things on my vacation as a kid, and was bored to death when my parents wanted to (a) sit around, (b) take an afternoon nap, (c) generally stay in our rental cabin and not go anywhere or do anything.

I now covet weekends where it's possible to not go anywhere or do anything, and I haven't taken a vacation in, uh. ????
posted by pemberkins at 9:07 AM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


So I already alluded to this in the previous MetaTalkTail, but I am currently looking forward to starting a new job at an employee-owned benefit corporation that does residential solar and other energy-efficiency work, one that has real benefits like an ESOP, 401k matching, and an HSA as well as a host of meaningful work-life balance improvements like a compressed 4-day work week, remote working (not relevant for me as I'm in the field but great for the office staff), paid volunteer days, and the ability to set my own appointment schedule rather than being at the whim of the entire sales department. I'll be doing similar work as I am now, but the visits will be more technical (so I'll get to improve my skills), and there will be fewer of them in a day so I'll spend more time doing the core of my job and less time driving from house to house. The service area is smaller too so the drives will be shorter, and it's all on the same side of Boston so there will be less traffic involved. As an employee-owned company they also have semi-annual all-hands financial meetings where all staff (who are also all stockholders) are able to hear about the details of the company's finances and supposedly comment freely on them. I'll believe that when I see it, but it's a very encouraging idea. As well, they claim to have a flat, non-hierarchical structure where management is seen as just one necessary job among many, rather than as a status thing—I'm sure that's only partially true at best, but even partially true would be better than the norm. It's too early to say, but I really feel like this is a company that might finally be a good fit for me long term, so I intend to throw myself into this wholeheartedly and really give it my best from the very beginning.

It will also involve moving, which is great. After my life kinda fell apart for mental health reasons about three years ago, I've been almost unimaginably lucky to have been able to spend a lot of time recovering and working on myself and figuring stuff out in the comfort and safety of my parents' home. It's a very nice home in a lovely town and somewhat miraculously my parents and I are still on really great terms after three years of my inhabiting their attic, but the time has come to move on and live independently again. In fact that time probably came about a year ago, but financially and logistically it would have been a real pain to move, so I've gotten a little stagnant over the last year. Now though it's still going to be financially painful but I've had another year to save up, and logistically it's just going to be a necessity that I move closer to where my new office will be, so I have that impetus to push myself back out of the nest and become an actual adult. It's scary, especially since my last stint of independence ended in flames, but I'm a stronger person now in many ways and I'm living a life that's truer to my own needs and desires, and anyway I just feel a little stifled here, comfortable as it is and lucky as I am to have such incredible parents who have had both the resources and the inclination to support me pretty unconditionally throughout this whole time. I'm excited to finally feel like an adult again.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 9:19 AM on June 24, 2018 [13 favorites]


As You Like It goes up on 7/16, and Oklahoma! starts rehearsal on 7/1.

The line-up for this September's Drive-In Super Monster-Rama was recently announced, and some of my favorite Hammer Horror classics are on the list! It's a really fun event, and since it always happens just after my birthday it's my annual treat.

My first Botox migraine treatment was promising, and I'm excited for the next one at the end of July.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:30 AM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


I am finally biting the bullet and training the cat to take an asthma inhaler. We've been supposed to do this for a long time, but he hates it and I'm a wimp about making him do things he hates. But so now we're doing the super-gradual one tiny step at a time method... so far I'm just touching the thing lightly to his face for a count of 1 and then he gets a treat. It's a process. But the internet assures me that a cat can be trained this way, and his asthma is worse and I really need to do it.

So I'm looking forward to the cat taking his asthma inhaler like a big boy.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:36 AM on June 24, 2018 [20 favorites]


I have something I am looking forward to! The Pod Save America tour is in Durham this evening, and I am really excited to catch their show live and in the flesh.
posted by msali at 9:58 AM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


I am looking forward to our delayed honeymoon in October. Even though it will probably be too cold, I have ordered some flamboyant shorts with flamingos on them that are totally not my normal style but I can't wait till they arrive.

Also I am finally biting the bullet and getting rid of one of our sofas so I can bring in the rocking chair my parents have been storing for me. I am really looking forward to rocking, like a lot.
posted by stillnocturnal at 10:22 AM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


I’m looking forward to my son coming home from college for a few weeks, and hoping he’ll bring some of his new puppets with him!

I would love to hear more about puppets.
posted by stillnocturnal at 10:26 AM on June 24, 2018 [7 favorites]


I’m reading this in Korean restaurant while waiting for my husband and our friend. I am looking forward to eating a ton of bulgogi and kimchi and mandu.
posted by like_neon at 11:01 AM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


I’m in the middle of what I was looking forward to! I’m in Pasadena, in a mini, last-minute vaca! I’m having a great time. Saw friends, visited the Huntington library, 2 laud-back days of Arroyo Seco, great food, and going home tomorrow. All good.
posted by greermahoney at 12:10 PM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


We've had this two-month-old for just over a week now. We're fostering him and we're looking forward to his finding a good home because he is going to make someone just a freakin' excellent addition to the household. He is a top-notch dog.

It will be very sad to say goodbye to him, but the silver lining will be getting more sleep. And there will likely be another foster dog soon after him.

This guy, though. He was found abandoned in the forest and in a little more than a week has made some amazing strides toward figuring out life as a dog. He's a real inspiration.
posted by veggieboy at 12:20 PM on June 24, 2018 [16 favorites]


I’m bringing a car full of girls to sleep away camp next week (the sister camp of my camp) and I take the day off to head up to the favorite place of my childhood.

My friend got me tickets for Lindsay Katt at Joe’s Pub which I am super excited about.
posted by shothotbot at 12:40 PM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


On Tuesday I get to go out to the country to a tiny cabin by using my Stockholm transit card. It's a 2.5 hour trip involving the subway and then two buses and I am A-OK with that. Will be spending two nights and, if all goes well, will spend two to three nights per week there every week in July. It is on an island. I will go swimming. I will need to work (which is okay, there is Internet) and when I am not working I will swing in my new hammock or wave at my sister and brother-in-law who own the place and stay in the main house and allow me to stay in the friggebod, as it is called in Sweden, that my brother-in-law's parents built for my family last time we lived in Sweden. I am seriously looking forward to that time out in nature even though it will rain at least part of the time because it is not a summer in Sweden without rain.

I am also looking forward to a completely mythical trip in a fantasy future in which I shadow Wordshore for a weekend as he makes his way from cake opportunity to cake opportunity to yet another cake opportunity (with one or more side opportunities for cheese). Like bilabial, I like food. Unlike Vesihiisi, I have not found any fresh potatos at 1 kr per kg. They are delicious, so I will be keeping my eyes open for such bargain tastiness.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:04 PM on June 24, 2018 [9 favorites]


Also, thumbs up to the European-friendly time zone idea. Thanks, Eyebrows!
posted by Bella Donna at 1:06 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


Just a few more weeks until our date to see Hamilton at the Kennedy Center! On the day the tickets went on sale, I waited in an online queue for about eight hours, with a depressingly high lottery number. But after narrowing down which dates would work for us in advance and limiting my search for tickets to any of those dates, I scored four Orchestra level seats easy peasy.
posted by emelenjr at 2:18 PM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


Congratulations to everyone looking forward to the fruits of their creative endeavours!

I am feeling that excitement too. My in-house tech support helped me wipe my computer and reinstall EVERYTHING, and I am going to record some music for the first time in about a year? I can't wait for that.

Also on my looking-forward-to list: aforementioned tech support coming home from a work trip (5 days); meeting the current resident of my uterus for the first time (~80 days).
posted by greenish at 2:33 PM on June 24, 2018 [9 favorites]


I look forward to a day off tomorrow, following a few very intense weeks at work that culminated in a final event yesterday.
What is special about tomorrow my nine year old will be at school the whole day and my husband at work, so really i can what want. Today i also had the day off from work but son wanted to go visit StStephens cathedral and climb the stairs of the south tower, 346 or so.
So tomorrow i will not move much and rest my feet ( i run around lots for my job) and reread my boss es text message expressing her satisfaction with how well the event went and enjoy some quiet solitude in my favourite Kaffeehaus.
posted by 15L06 at 3:16 PM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


My wife gets home tomorrow! Which is nice in itself, but extra good because the only reason I'm not with her is that two of our cats and the three cats we are catsitting for were exposed to an extremely toxic canine medication, and they're all on five-times-a-day prophylactic drugs. Doing that myself, caring for two dogs and the additional cat, and being exceedingly grumpy that I don't get to do the Out of Town Fun Thing I was looking forward to have not made for an awesome week. (It looks like only one cat actually got any, and of course it's my wife's beloved boy, which isn't fun, but the rest of them may get clean bills of health after tomorrow's bloodwork, so that'll help, too.)
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 3:38 PM on June 24, 2018 [10 favorites]


That sounds miserable, restless_nomad. So glad your wife will be home soon. Hope you do something special for yourself when you can cause you’ve totally earned it.
posted by Bella Donna at 3:43 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


r_n fingers crossed for good health scores!!!
posted by bilabial at 3:52 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


Good thoughts for you and your cat buddies, restless_nomad!

I bought a house on May 2 and have since completely renovated and moved into it, and spent this weekend painting and cleaning my old house to get it ready for sale. After today I no longer have to spend every waking hour doing manual labor of some sort AND I have all of next week off work with nothing in particular to do. So I’m looking forward to that unimaginable heaven of relaxation. And to only owning one house, hopefully sooner rather than later.
posted by something something at 3:54 PM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


I'm looking forward to not feeling this gut-wrenching pain that sort of appears and then gradually dissipates when I suddenly remember that one of the closest friends I've ever had is leaving this world shortly. The past two days have felt like five; everything is happening in slow motion. Cried it out for a bit (with him and then alone later) and have been calm ever since. I feel a sense of okayness. This is going to be okay. It's not what I'd hoped for, but given all the other options, being able to choose the manner and time of your exit is actually pretty goddamn okay. It'll be okay. I'll be okay.

Losing him is sad as fuck. But then I get thinking about how crazy wonderful he is and how much he (his influence) changed me for the way better, and I feel a surge of love and happiness, and it's all just a very strange time indeed. So while it is sad as fuck, I'm coping like I didn't even realize I could, and I have to laugh a little because that very thing—this ability to face things head-on and allow myself to feel/see things honestly—is possible because I've had him as a friend. He showed me my value. It's the most generous gift I've ever received. He found me acceptable and worthy of his profound love and respect (and when this guy loves you and respects you, you really fuckin know it), and it actually had the effect of changing who I am.

It hadn't occurred to me that someone so full of life and in possession of that kind of magic could die. So I'm just going to accept this for exactly what it is, feel it keenly until it stops hurting, and be super fucking grateful that he is a part of my soul. I'm going to wallow in the love and gratitude I feel for him. I am strong. He made even this possible for me.
posted by heyho at 4:26 PM on June 24, 2018 [25 favorites]


Ooof. My basement just flooded. Not a big flood, and it's just in the corner where the water drains out of the washing machine, but still kind of unnerving. I'm calling the plumber tomorrow. Now I have to go to the laundromat and do the rest of my laundry, which is not really what I want to be doing on a Sunday night.

Home ownership is scary, you guys.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:28 PM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


Hugs and condolences, heyho.
posted by lazuli at 4:29 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


Hugs, heyho.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:34 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'm looking forward to seeing DC MeFites for pupusas next week! Other than that, I am mostly still recovering from jet lag after returning from a really incredible trip to Iceland, so I guess I'm looking forward to not waking up at 5am every morning. It's a cliché vacation for an American to do at this point, but I really fell in love with Iceland. We stayed within a couple hours' drive of Reykjavík so I am also looking forward to one day going back and hopefully hitting the north and east and the Westmans. For now I keep seeing mountains and waterfalls and glaciers every time I dream; it's magical.

LobsterMitten: "So I'm looking forward to the cat taking his asthma inhaler like a big boy."

Wishing you the best of luck! My asthmatic cat has been increasingly reluctant to take his pills, even with a Pill Pocket, so I may need to swap over to an inhaler too. Really wishing I'd ignored all the advice saying pet insurance isn't worth it right about now...

ChuraChura: "Looking forward to hearing back from them (one of them is in DC!). "

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you! Join ussssss...
posted by capricorn at 4:37 PM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


I am also looking forward to a completely mythical trip in a fantasy future in which I shadow Wordshore for a weekend as he makes his way from cake opportunity to cake opportunity to yet another cake opportunity...

For balance, one wishes to highlight that not every depascent occasion is cake-centric. For example, this fine evening at a splendid rural public house, one delighted in pudding instead (the tasting platter, to be specific). Though the counterbalance of this indulgence will be the requirement for much antejentacular activity in the gym upon awakening.

My lifelong motto is "Always Bring Tupperware".
posted by Wordshore at 4:46 PM on June 24, 2018 [14 favorites]


WORDSHORE!!

That's my happy thing for this week. Wordshore!
posted by cooker girl at 5:21 PM on June 24, 2018 [11 favorites]


In the spirit of telling y'all "whatever is on my mind," I got a coupon from CVS today for $2 off a purchase of $7 or more of M&Ms. I'm not sure whether to be impressed or offended by their intimate knowledge of my buying habits.
posted by duffell at 5:43 PM on June 24, 2018 [12 favorites]


Oh, also, the Reds swept the Cubs in a four game series and OMG THAT FELT SO DAMNED GOOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA.
posted by cooker girl at 5:48 PM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


It was Pride in Toronto and I marched with the furries. That was one of several high points this weekend, but there were lots too and I'm pretty wiped out physically and emotionally.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:23 PM on June 24, 2018 [6 favorites]


Today the housemate and I went to run errands get real coffee and get back to work deep cleaning and upending the casa, and instead of going to the local greasy spoon for burgers for ugh breakfast, I detoured us to the co-op because please no greasebombs when I gotta work.

Where I spent WAY too much money on a bag of genuine organic Rainer cherries and a whole bag of avocados and basically wiped out my bank account, but my bod is thanking me.

And omg these things are f'ing delicious and yay. Don't be too jealous 'cause I've had like 10 hours of sleep in 3 days and have been working my stupid face off.

Also I just set up my little stack of bookshelf speakers in a bridged/paired config for the first time and it sounds ridonkulously good and loud and clean and bassy for, oh, about 30 dollars and maybe 2 bucks in wires and a measly 8 watts. Can't wait to get a good amp in the 50-100 watt range and properly drive these.
posted by loquacious at 7:12 PM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm looking forward to taking a shower, because I've been making pottery for the last five hours and am feeling super grimy. But! The friend I have a giant crush on sent me a picture of something and asked if I thought I could make it, and the answer is yes with a lot of practice first, so now I have a fun challenge I'm also looking forward to completing. Then all of these things will be fired in July in a workshop with an artist whose art AND personality I appreciate, also a near-future bright spot.

I'm also generally looking forward to July, because June has been outrageously busy and I need a break, and also there will be ripe tomatoes, tomatillos and blueberries at my house.
posted by centrifugal at 7:28 PM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]


Very short term, I am on a train right now and am really looking forward to getting to Saco, which is where the four drunk noisy Red Sox fans are leaving and I can take off my headphones which weren't doing any good anyway (they were singing Journey's Don't Stop Believin', for fuck's sake, AND getting the words wrong, I hope their hangovers tomorrow last all day).

Very long term, I am looking forward to retirement, which if all goes well will be in just under 8 years from now.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to harvesting beans and tomatoes in a couple months.
posted by JanetLand at 7:28 PM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


I'm looking forward to (hopefully) cooler than average July and (likely) above average precipitation in the next three months, but not looking forward to the likely hotter than average August (Weather.com overview of continental U.S. weather trends for the next 3 months). Next week will likely be in the low 100s to high 90s, before dropping to the low 90s, which is already hotter than normal June weather for the Albuquerque region.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:42 PM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm looking forward to trying out a heater I bought, it's fucking cold and playing havoc with my Reynauds.

Also one of my doctors years back was a creepy wizard who was like "every time you get slow, you need more protein" and I kind of loathed him at the time but dear lady fuck do I loathe him even more in retrospect for always being goddam right. So I'm looking forward to working more protein into my diet.

I'm especially looking forward to watching more Mystery Road, it's got adverts on all the bus shelters but it's worth all of them and some, bloody MARVELLOUS show and the cast are just legends. Whoever did the photography deserves good things in life, the direction is such a love letter to the landscape and everything is so fucking tightly done. I'm absolutely glued. Aaron Pedersen as a hardboiled detective in the outback? Fucking beauty.

I admit this comment is mostly to gush about Mystery Road. Got me there.
posted by E. Whitehall at 1:01 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


Everything is in limbo for me. Work stuff, money stuff, kidney stone stuff, dental health stuff, new anti-dep med stuff.

But tomorrow-technically-tonight I'm going to go see Carly Rae Jepsen in concert live with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. And even if the kidney stone pain kicks in again I'm smothering it with dilaudid and I'm going anyway.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 3:04 AM on June 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm looking forward to going to Amsterdam next week.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:43 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


cooker girl, I may have shouted at the TV so many times during Saturday and Sunday's Reds/Cubs games. Our Redlegs are playing the baseball I've wanted them to play since FOREVER.

Of course, down here, the Bats have a similar record and the trajectory is downward, so I may have to come up and see the winning team.

AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON HOMER BAILEY. Love that dude, but fuck if he can't keep himself healthy enough to pitch 6 decent innings.
posted by deezil at 6:45 AM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


We went to the beach for my birthday two weeks ago, but it was raining, so we just walked along the beach instead of going swimming. I'm looking forward to going back next week so I can maybe play in the water some! I really love the ocean -- it's home to me in a way not much else is.
posted by PearlRose at 6:53 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


OMG deezil, YES to Homer Bailey!! WTF dude?? But how much are you loving Amir Garrett? And Michael Lorenzen?

I was in the car listening to the game on the radio (driving back from the Dayton Air Show) during the fateful 7th inning yesterday and my kids were like, "Mom, seriously, you're going to get in an accident CALM DOWN." And I'm like, "BUT DID YOU HEAR WHAT JUST HAPPENED HOW ARE YOU MY CHILDREN WHERE DID I GO WRONG????"

It's just so, so sweet to be winning and even MORE sweet to be winning against a team whose fans come to my stadium and leave their manners at home. You're gonna change the lyrics to Take Me Out to the Ballgame in MY STADIUM?? RUDE.
posted by cooker girl at 7:18 AM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


I'm pretty close to mounting my ARB Awning to the roof of my Outback. I've fabricated up a demo bracket for the task that proves my concept (not using the bar racks but instead using the tie-down bracket location, basically what this person did, is doable without having to extend the factory bars from their non-deployed position. I'm going out to a local fabrication shop to see what they'd charge me to fab something up out of stainless instead of the mild-steel prototype since I know it's going to rust in 3 nanoseconds,even if I etch/prime/paint it.

The kit that turns that awning into a car friendly room/tent is on the way as well.

That job, combined with the bed platform (like this, but my design so different but the same) that I built after testing the idea on a trip camping in the Everglades for 3 days and sleeping in the outback with the wife (with screen over the open sunroof and a Ryobi Battery fan keeping the air moving) will complete the transformatiof of the Outback into a family friendly teardrop, without the need for a trailer... I hope...

Well, that and the Thule Transporter hitch mounted storage box, which is damn impressive, to handle the overflow of stuff that will travel with us. That and a few widgets to block the windows and such....

But yea, we're pumped about a trip to a friend's one/two room cabin in the mountains of North Carolina in a few weeks where my wife and our two girls will, likely anyway unless the two young ones want to sleep inside, be utilizing it to the fullest extent of what is sane for a few days.

Pray for us, but if it works, next thing you know I'll be driving on the beach and deploying the shade like a old pro around here.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:34 AM on June 25, 2018 [7 favorites]


I am looking forward to finally getting my new windows. They gave me a span of the 19th to the 29th when they might get installed, during which every single day I have to wrangle my cats into bathrooms they aggressively do not want to be shut in, and keep my apartment tidy to a level that is okay with, for example, strangers wandering around in my bedroom, and my apartment complex will not give me a narrower span of time and the window company has made so little progress that I'm wondering if they're even going to have finished by then, and I don't know how much longer they expect this to work. It's awful and I want it to be over. I tried finding a place to board them but nowhere in town could take them. I'm also still terrified that one of the workers is going to open a bathroom door while they're in the middle of stuff and I'm going to end up losing one or more of my cats out a window.

One week down, I wish I could say that it's only one more week to go. I seriously don't get how it's considered reasonable for my apartment complex to give notice for a span of two weeks at a time without being any more specific than this. It's awful.

(Sorry for no pics, avoiding for privacy reasons.)
posted by Sequence at 9:42 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


This morning I was looking forward to meeting my gentleman caller so we could go for a walk with my new! dog! (see previous Good Things thread for photo) and except for the part where something about my beloved coffee/ice cream shop spooked her enough to back out of her collar and we both got a sprint in, a lovely time was had by all.
posted by Flannery Culp at 9:49 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


This weekend, I made a peach pie (second of the season!) and binged on Steven Universe and went for a couple of long runs and hung out with family, and it was good.
posted by suelac at 10:09 AM on June 25, 2018 [7 favorites]


Sequence, might I suggest that you literally and liberally put, like, blue painter's tape ALLLLLLLLL over the door jambs? Like a crime scene? And then put a BIIIIIG sign that says "QUARANTINED ANIMALS DO NOT OPEN". I say "quarantine" instead of something less scary because I think it's WAY less likely someone is going to open the door out of curiosity (OOOOHHHH KITTIES) if they think they're less than super healthy.
posted by cooker girl at 10:18 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm looking forward to finally getting my little cardboard Jollylook instant camera that I backed on Kickstarter two years ago. It's now over a year late and very annoyingly already for sale in retail stores but none of the backer have gotten theirs yet. At least the fact that they're selling them retail means that they're not total vaporware.
posted by octothorpe at 10:47 AM on June 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


I am looking forward to finally getting my new windows. They gave me a span of the 19th to the 29th when they might get installed, during which every single day I have to wrangle my cats into bathrooms they aggressively do not want to be shut in

Uuuuugh - my apartment complex did this to us, except it ended up being about a three month period wherein they kept rescheduling vague time windows, and all I could think was I was so relieved I hadn't yet adopted a cat as I planned on doing once I moved here. I'm still kind of wary about getting a pet, because the management has generally not been ace on appropriate notice, and I'm petrified of escapes.
posted by pemberkins at 10:51 AM on June 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


I am in the early email-exchange phase of an online dating go-round and it's actually been quite pleasant for a change and we may finally be meeting in person sometime this week or next.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:22 AM on June 25, 2018 [11 favorites]


cooker girl, Amir Garrett is the next incarnation of Aroldis Chapman so help me god and he can actually pitch two innings if he has to. Lorenzen is also great and the grand slam by Disco on Saturday I hollered so loud the cat got startled.

Shame about Senzel, but he gets right this offseason, he'll be donning the red and white next April.
posted by deezil at 12:17 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


Today begins the second week of sailing classes. We are only in dinghies ATM, (Lido 14s) but by the end of summer hope to have nailed down the Basic Keelboat certification and by next summer, fingers-crossed, a cruise to Catalina Island and back.

Classes are at OCC Sailing center.
posted by notyou at 4:21 PM on June 25, 2018 [5 favorites]


I'm very much looking forward to getting Stakka Bo's Here We Go out of my head.
posted by duffell at 7:32 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


OMG I've had "Breakfast at Tiffany's" stuck in my head for a week, I think?, since that MeTa thread and I would very much love for that to go away. I've found myself singing it out loud in the shower every morning for the past several days.
posted by lazuli at 7:50 PM on June 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


I’m in an aircraft at gatwick. I am so looking forward to sleeping in a familiar bed, in a dark room.

Flight time is approximately 7 hours. Weather on route looks pretty nice.
posted by bilabial at 9:24 PM on June 25, 2018 [12 favorites]


I just started a new job and my boss goes on maternity leave at the end of the week, so I'm kinda looking forward to that--it means I'll have more time to become a competent employee without screwing up in front of her.

Also at the end of the week: Families Belong Together rally and the NYSYLC gala, at which one of my dear friends is receiving a reward :D

(also: yay weekends! after years of freelancing this is my first realish monday-to-friday job so i've grown to really appreciate my days off)
posted by junques at 4:39 AM on June 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


Oh yay, I just got the shipping notification for the camera! I'd almost given up on actually getting the thing.
posted by octothorpe at 4:58 AM on June 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


as an update to the above: today I finally found the time to google the bottle of wine I received as a thank you from one of theguests of the event I did on the weekend, and it is this which makes me wonder do I dare drink it??
And how do I store it until then?

I had a lovely relaxed day yesterday, lunch with my brother in my favourite Indian restaurant, and slowly getting of the adrenalin rush and steering myself to focus on the next tasks, as this particular event was very concentrated work.
And as always since that thread on whom would you invite for a meal I wondered which mefite might have enjoyed the meals that came with the event, and had a chuckle to myself. And there were no dead people, lucky me.
posted by 15L06 at 5:19 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


PS I am a white wine lover so would literally never have bought this for myself.
posted by 15L06 at 5:20 AM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


It's always worth drinking good wine! And pinot noir goes with a lot of different foods. Store it on its side (so the cork doesn't dry out), if you can, until you drink it, and try not to let it get too hot. Think "cave," basically -- cooler basements cabinets rather than super-hot attics. Enjoy!
posted by lazuli at 6:02 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


Christmas day is exactly 26 weeks away.

While that isn't of great consequence it's perhaps more notable that, with a year being 52 weeks and 1 day, we are now closer to the Christmas day coming than the one just past.

Noting as well that the nights are drawing in (northern hemisphere edition), and one can almost feel an autumnal chill across the land.

(Well, I can't, but imagining one may help to cope with this typically English heatwave better)
posted by Wordshore at 7:51 AM on June 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


Signs got put on the doors today for the cats. I'm having to leave them without water during the day now, though I did put them in there with wet food and they had water available all night and will have water available as soon as I get home. Yesterday they managed to knock over the water dishes AND the food dishes and it made a godawful mess. But we've got good weather due through Friday and I'm just praying they get to us soon--they made more progress on the other side of the building yesterday!
posted by Sequence at 9:42 AM on June 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


Here in Vienna the heatwave broke last Friday, but apparently next one is due on Saturday.
The last days however were positively autumnal, temperature below 20 celcius and rainy and overcast.
posted by 15L06 at 10:21 AM on June 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Wife came home, had a very successful Fun Out of Town Thing, and all of the cats have normal bloodwork and look like they're going to be fine. We have another week or so of drugging the little beasts, but as far as we can tell, they're in good shape.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 1:38 PM on June 26, 2018 [10 favorites]


I've been dealing with some sorta minor health issues lately, so after my follow-up doctor's appointment today, I treated myself to some locally grown strawberries. I'm going to make strawberry freezer jam. I'm really looking forward to spooning that over vanilla ice cream.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 2:18 PM on June 27, 2018 [5 favorites]


Medium-term, some friends are throwing a luau and even though I'll probably have to go stag, I think it sounds like enough fun to go anyway. Which reminds me, I need to pick out a banana bread recipe to bring!

Longer term, I'm doing more detailed planning for our trip to Thailand in November (which I cannot wait for) and attempting to learn Thai in the interim via Pimsleur tapes. I assume my accent will be/is atrocious, but I try to at least learn enough of a language to ask for directions, order something politely, and say thank you. It makes me feel like slightly less of a clueless tourist annoying the locals. I've never been to Asia at all, and all the people I know who visited loved Chiang Mai, so I have high hopes.

Also, that afghan is gorgeous, A&C!
posted by tautological at 6:59 PM on June 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


I finally caught actual human beings doing the window work this morning and have confirmed that as long as the weather holds--it looks like it will--that they will get to me on Monday, which is outside the period I was officially given, but whatever, at least no more cat-herding until then and it's amazing.
posted by Sequence at 7:34 AM on June 28, 2018 [3 favorites]


I was not around this Sunday because of zoo (I got to see a hippo so close up underwater that I could count the tiny air bubbles in his ears!), but I do feel the need to say--

> Anyway; speaking of food, it's time to find myself some shade and work on the 'Non-edible uses of Rainier Cherries' FPP, as several seasons of this fruit will come and go before sciatrix ever delivers on this one.

your move, sir.
posted by sciatrix at 12:19 PM on June 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


octothorpe: "Oh yay, I just got the shipping notification for the camera! I'd almost given up on actually getting the thing."

I really need to stop reloading the USPS tracking page every hour.
posted by octothorpe at 6:39 AM on June 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


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